I would like to know what happened to Viasa airlines?I flew them once on my trip from EZE to isla Margarita via CCS.I remember the service onboard was excellent and the DC-10 splendid.Venezuela is a great country and should be represented by a strong airline
Saludos Venezuela
Alex!!!

Hey Alex here I go with the full story of what happen to VA. It all had to do with a lot of money involved between to presidents, which at the moment they were Carlos Andres Perez of Venezuela and Felipe Gonzalez of Spain. When IB buys VA this two guys fill their pockets with a lot of money, and at the end we venezuelans lost our airline due to terrible management from IB.
Before that happen, VA used to be the best airline in South America and probably around the world. Passengers from other Europeans airlines said they always prefer to fly VA instead of their national carriers since the service and friendliness of the crew what something special. I hope this information clears your doubts a little bit.

All this time i was wondering how an first class airline from such rich country could ended like that,but now i have a clear idea.Thanks BA747 for this info
and wish for Venezuela prosperity and peace
Saludos Venezuela!
Alex!!!

There are plenty of other threads on the topic here in the Net. but, very briefly, its demise, in January 1997, had to do with these aspects:

1) Refusal by the Venezuelan Government to acknowledge past debts (mostly having to do with Union and employee pension contributions and fringe benefits awarded when the airline was State run)

2) Appalling administration by IBERIA (itself, then, a State-run outfit with as many or even worse problems, practices and interests as VIASA had so there was no way the two airlines' cultures could ever meet eye to eye)

3) Refusal by SEPI (Iberia's State holding company) to allow for VIASA's losses to be funded

4) VIASA Unions refusal to budge on wage and conditions restructuring plus a reduction in payroll owing to gross overmanning (statistics show at one time the airline had 12 DC-10 First Officers per every DC-10)

The airline was, indeed, privatised in August 1991 not to the best bidder but to the one most convenient to the ruling party of the day and so, instead of choosing KLM (the other serious contender with a slightly less generous offer on the cards), IBERIA was selected after hard lobbying by both, King Juan Carlos of Spain himself (who visited Caracas 2 weeks before bidding day) and Prime Minister Felipe González, old-time personal friend of Venezuela's then President Carlos Andrés Pérez.

It must be stressed that if VIASA turned out to be a world-class airline it is because its founding fathers (from inception in November 1960 as a joint public-private airline till 1984 already fully nationalised) chose KLM, the world's oldest airline, as its guiding light and benefited no end from such a fact. In the 1960s and 70s VIASA's excellence was such in every respect that not only regional KLM Caribbean services (before ALM was set up in 1966) were operated by VIASA but many services even in Asia were flown by combined Dutch/Venezuelan crews.
Thus, KLM would have been the true obvious choice by the 1991 Privatising board but, sadly, political meddling meant the worse decision was taken.

VIASA was in a parlous state in the early 1980s already. It turned a profit every year since it began scheduled flights on April 1 1961 with two aircraft, namely, its own Convair 880-22M (YV-C-VIA) to New York's Idlewild airport and a rented brand new DC-8-53 (PH-DCL, sadly lost on 31 May, 1961 near Lisbon). Despite having been unnecessarily privatised in 1976, and thus become the target of gross mismanagement, it continued to produce operational profits till 1981.
For a whole decade, until its privatisation, VIASA was a loss-maker unable to sustain operations as such any longer.
It was sold out, however, to the least fit contender to take good care of it !

Thank you so much for your kind words. I do love civil aviation and, whilst I lived in Venezuela, I did my best to keep abreast and fully informed of what was going on. I hope my contributions in this forum are balanced, objective and fair. I always seek to reflect the truth as it is or was.

The DC-10s were taken over by Iberia after the airline was dissolved. Two are currently in Greenwood, MS and one in Opa Locka, FL in Iberia colours. One was written off in Buenos Aires in 1995. It was stored there for a long time in derelict conditions, but I don't know if something of the aircraft sill remains there. All other former VIASA DC-10s (with the exception of a former World Airways aircraft which was only leased by VIASA for three months in 1981) were scrapped.

Yeap he really knows everything about venezuelan aviation, but not only that he also manages to offer well balanced and accurate insides on this matter not taking sides, something which is very hard in the current "environment" we face in Venezuela and you all know what I mean by that!!!!

Thank you for posting that picture. I am afraid mine I have in Venezuela and not here with me in Cancún !!
It was taken at Schiphol in February 1972 (services with PH-BUG began in April 1972) and meant for use on the cover of 1970-1971 Shareholders Balance Report which is the document I hold.
It brought fond memories !! Thank you !

Edgaren,

Thank you too for your kind words. I truly appreciate them !
Welcome to the team of A. Netters !!

Quoting Lamedianaranja (Reply 23):When nostalgia hits hard I take out my magazines and spend a while reminiscing

Hi Lamedianaraja!
I have a bipolar nostalgia that hits me from time to time,the first is the south America nostalgia represented by AR/VA/RG/Cruzeiro/Ausral lineas aereas ect...and the second one that is much deeper is the BEY nostalgia where i use to live when kid and the golden years of MEA middle east airlnes of Lebanon,the B707 of cedarjet and PAN AM B747 .By the way i remember the logo of Viasa and Varig at the departure hall of BEY international airport
A lot of nostalgia and happiness at the same time.When it hits hard i jump in the first available flight.
Saludos desde Noruega
Alex!!!